Galatians 5

1 Stand fast therefore in the libertie wherewith Christ hath made vs free, and be not intangled againe with the yoke of bondage.

It is for freedom that Christ set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not again be held under the yoke of slavery.

2 Beholde, I Paul say vnto you, that if yee be circumcised, Christ shall profite you nothing.

Understand that I, Paul, myself tell you that if you allow yourselves to be circumcised, Christ will avail you nothing.

3 For I testifie againe to euery man, which is circumcised, that he is bound to keepe the whole Lawe.

I again declare to everyone who receives circumcision, that he binds himself to obey the whole Law.

4 Ye are abolished from Christ: whosoeuer are iustified by the Law, ye are fallen from grace.

You have severed yourselves from Christ – you who are seeking to be pronounced righteous through Law; you have fallen away from love.

5 For we through the Spirit waite for the hope of righteousnes through faith.

For we, by the help of the Spirit, are eagerly waiting for the fulfilment of our hope – that we may be pronounced righteous as the result of faith.

6 For in Iesus Christ neither circumcision auaileth any thing, neither vncircumcision, but faith which worketh by loue.

If we are in union with Christ Jesus, neither is circumcision nor the omission of it anything, but faith, working through love, is everything.

7 Ye did runne well: who did let you, that ye did not obey the trueth?

You were once making good progress! Who has hindered you from obeying the truth?

8 It is not the perswasion of him that calleth you.

The persuasion brought to bear on you does not come from him who calls you.

9 A litle leauen doeth leauen the whole lumpe.

A little yeast leavens all the dough.

10 I haue trust in you through the Lord, that ye will be none otherwise minded: but hee that troubleth you, shall beare his condemnation, whosoeuer he be.

I, through my union with the Lord, am persuaded that you will learn to think with me. But the man who is disturbing your minds will have to bear his punishment, whoever he may be.

11 And brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why doe I yet suffer persecution? Then is the slaunder of the crosse abolished.

If I, friends, am still proclaiming circumcision, why am I still persecuted? It seems that the cross has ceased to be an obstacle!

12 Would to God they were euen cut off, which doe disquiet you.

I could even wish that the people who are unsettling you would go further still and mutilate themselves.

13 For brethren, ye haue bene called vnto libertie: onely vse not your libertie as an occasion vnto the flesh, but by loue serue one another.

Remember, friends, to you the call came to give you freedom. Only, do not make your freedom an opportunity for self-indulgence but serve one another in a loving spirit.

14 For all the Lawe is fulfilled in one worde, which is this, Thou shalt loue thy neighbour as thy selfe.

Indeed, the whole Law has been summed up in this one precept – “You must love your neighbour as you love yourself.”

15 If ye bite and deuoure one another, take heede least ye be consumed one of another.

But, if you are continually wounding and preying on one another, take care that you are not destroyed by one another.

16 Then I say, Walke in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lustes of the flesh.

This is what I have to say – Let your steps be guided by the Spirit, and then you will never gratify the cravings of your earthly nature.

17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary one to another, so that ye can not doe the same things that ye would.

For these cravings of our earthly nature conflict with the Spirit, and the Spirit with our earthly nature – they are two contrary principles – so that you cannot do what you wish.

18 And if ye be led by the Spirit, ye are not vnder the Lawe.

But, if you follow the guidance of the Spirit, you are not subject to Law.

19 Moreouer the workes of the flesh are manifest, which are adulterie, fornication, vncleannes, wantonnes,

The sins of our earthly nature are unmistakable. They are sins like these – sexual immorality, impurity, indecency,

20 Idolatrie, witchcraft, hatred, debate, emulations, wrath, contentions, seditions, heresies,

idolatry, sorcery, quarrels, strife, jealousy, outbursts of passion, rivalries, dissensions, divisions,

21 Enuie, murthers, drunkennesse, gluttonie, and such like, whereof I tell you before, as I also haue tolde you before, that they which doe such things, shall not inherite the kingdome of God.

feelings of envy, drunkenness, revelry, and the like. And I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who indulge in such things will have no place in the kingdom of God.

22 But the fruite of the Spirit is loue, ioye, peace, long suffering, gentlenes, goodnes, fayth,

But the fruit produced by the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindliness, generosity, trustfulness, gentleness, self-control.

23 Meekenesse, temperancie: against such there is no lawe.

Against such things there is no law!

24 For they that are Christes, haue crucified the flesh with the affections and the lustes.

And those who belong to Jesus, the Christ, have already crucified their earthly nature, with its passions and its cravings.

25 If we liue in the Spirit, let vs also walke in the Spirit.

Since our life is due to the Spirit, let us rule our conduct also by the Spirit.

26 Let vs not be desirous of vaine glorie, prouoking one another, enuying one another.

Do not let us grow vain, and provoke or envy one another.